


There Had Never Been A Worse Time To Sneeze

by everybodygotawaterbuffalo



Series: A dragon, an elf, a siren, a vampire, and a shapeshifter walk into a kpop band [1]
Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Mythical Beings & Creatures, i don't really know but she's cute so, irene's a dragon, joy's a vampire, seulgi's an elf, wendy's a siren, yeri's a cat/deer shifter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 07:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everybodygotawaterbuffalo/pseuds/everybodygotawaterbuffalo
Summary: Some things to know about dragons:They're very protectiveThey don't get sick often but it can happenTheir sneezes produce a significant amount of fireTheir fire is very hot and very dangerous





	There Had Never Been A Worse Time To Sneeze

Dragons are, in a word, protective. They’re calm and collected, definitely, and of course regal and elegant but very protective, even possessive. In Irene’s case, this manifests in keeping track of her members (particularly Joy and Yeri) and pretty strictly controlling who enters the dorms. Y’know, territory and all that. 

Irene’s a fairly young dragon, so she stays more on the cute side of the spectrum than some. Of course, “young” is an incredibly relative term. Most species wouldn’t consider nearing 10,000 years “young” but dragons run on their own timeline. 

Unfortunately, running on their own timeline sometimes includes forgetting basic needs like sleep. Though she only needs about half as much as a human, she’s been getting significantly less than even that. Between working on new choreography and helping with/watching production -- she wants to learn more about it and eventually help more -- she’s been at the studio late every night for a couple weeks. This overworking manifested in a cold. Now, dragons have naturally very good immune systems, partially because their natural body temperature is higher than most harmful bacteria can survive, but Irene seems to have caught herself a nasty one, and it’s persisted for several days. 

Normally, one or all of the other girls would’ve noticed by now. Normally, Seulgi would’ve sat her down with a cup of herbal tea and some sort of herb concoction disguised as a dessert; Wendy would’ve cuddled and sung her to sleep three nights ago; at this point Joy would’ve put her under thrall to get her to go home; Yeri quite possibly would’ve shifted and given her sad eyes until she gave in and cuddled for several hours, which always results in a nap. This time, however, Irene’s been at the studio until after the others go to bed and with her new foray into production, she’s been working more with the managers and less with her girls. 

It was just a cough last night, but this morning Irene woke up to a head cold as well, and that’s dangerous. Seulgi and Wendy are trying desperately to keep her in bed to prevent her destroying anything. Honestly, coughs are dangerous enough -- they really don’t need her sneezing right now. Dragonfire is terrifying: it’s hot enough to melt steel and very difficult to put out. There’s a reason Irene’s bedsheets and most of her clothes are fireproof, and times like this just remind them all how fragile they are in Irene’s eyes. 

It isn’t until their manager arrives to collect Joy and Yeri that Seulgi and Wendy realize Irene’s going to be problematic. The two youngest have individual schedules today -- Joy’s heading to a photoshoot and Yeri has a meeting with some other idols to work on a potential collaboration. They’re already running late and their manager is impatient. 

Irene growls at him when he tries to hustle the girls along. Yeri, who didn’t know Irene in her less-controlled trainee days, is unaccustomed to seeing her like this and is understandably a little wary. She knows Irene would never do anything to hurt her though -- her human, cat, and deer sides all agree on this. Seulgi and Wendy find Irene’s attitude cute, if a bit inconvenient. Though their leader has always been protective over all of them, it’s rare they get to see her this possessive. 

“Irene, the girls need to leave. They have schedules to keep up with and we’re already running late.”

“No.” She’s petulant, tugging the maknaes close. Yeri relaxes into her hold immediately, her deer side recognizing a comforting figure and her cat side basking in the heat. Joy, on the other hand, attempts to escape for a couple seconds before Irene starts rumbling again and she settles. 

“Irene. Come on, baby, you know they have to go.” It’s Wendy this time, voice edging the line between speaking and sing-song. Irene can feel the tug of her siren voice, but it’s subtle enough she can ignore it for the time being. Her grip on the girls softens and Seulgi takes the opportunity to slide in and gather them up, allowing them to continue getting ready. 

Their manager gets closer to Irene.

“You need to calm down and see a doctor. I’m taking you off your schedules until you get better. The last thing we need is a sick dragon wandering around.” As much as she knows he’s right, Irene’s still annoyed. Her members aren’t allowed to leave her, and her manager knows that. In response, she growls again, even more threatening this time, until she feels her eyes start to water as her nose itches. 

There had never been a worse time to sneeze. Thankfully, their manager’s a ghast so permanent physical damage isn’t really an issue. It’s still not a particularly pleasant experience for him, but at least a mild torching can’t affect him the way it would any of the girls. Although, come to think of it, Irene’s not sure how or even if dragonfire would hurt Seulgi, given that elves are generally revered as indestructible. 

Irene, still preoccupied with keeping Joy and Yeri in her line of sight and in arm’s reach, doesn’t notice Joy’s eyes -- locked on hers -- flicker dark until her head goes soft and floaty. 

“Lay down, unnie.” Her voice is warm, sweet, compelling. Irene blinks, nods slowly, and returns to her bed without a fuss. 

“Why didn’t you just do that to start with?” asks their manager. Joy shoots him a look.

“Clearly you’re unfamiliar with vampire etiquette.” That’s enough to shut him up. 

Unfortunately, it only takes a couple minutes after Joy and Yeri leave with the manager before Irene’s up and pacing again, but Seulgi just shoots Wendy a look and heads to the kitchen, presumably to get going on some healing tea. She would’ve started it earlier but she was a bit preoccupied with the fire hazard in the other room. Hearing faint singing from the bedroom, she relaxes, knowing Irene’s in good hands.

Wendy coerces Irene back into bed with lilting words before starting a soft English lullaby. Irene dissolves into a puddle of lidded eyes and draping limbs, successfully pulling Wendy down with her. 

Once Irene’s breathing evens out and she goes completely limp, Wendy extracts herself. After taking a moment to admire how pretty her girlfriend is, even asleep and sick, she heads to the kitchen to help Seulgi. 


End file.
